Antibacterial screening of Rumex species native to the Carpathian Basin and bioactivity-guided isolation of compounds from Rumex aquaticus

Abstract

Plants belonging to the genus Rumex (family Polygonaceae) are used worldwide in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases caused by different microorganisms (e.g. bacteria-related dermatologic conditions, dysentery and enteritis). The present study focused on the antibacterial screening of Rumex species native to the Carpathian Basin, and isolation of compounds from one of the most efficient species, Rumex aquaticus. The antibacterial effects of n-hexane, chloroform and aqueous fractions of methanol extracts prepared from different parts of 14 Rumex species (R. acetosella, R. acetosa, R. alpinus, R. aquaticus, R. conglomeratus, R. crispus, R. hydrolapathum, R. obtusifolius subsp. obtusifolius, R. obtusifolius subsp. subalpinus, R. patientia, R. pulcher, R. scutatus, R. stenophyllus and R. thyrsiflorus) were investigated against Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, MRSA, Bacillus subtilis, Moraxella catarrhalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, S. agalactiae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae using the disc diffusion method. Mainly the n-hexane and chloroform extracts prepared from the roots of the plants displayed high antibacterial activity (inhibition zones>15mm) against one or more bacterial strains. The highly active extracts of the aerial part and root of R. aquaticus were subjected to a multistep separation procedure. 19 Compounds, among them naphthalenes (musizin, and its glucoside, torachrysone-glucoside, 2-methoxystypandrone), anthraquinones (emodin, chrysophanol, physcion, citreorosein, chrysophanol-8-O-glucoside), flavonoids (quercetin, quercetin-3,3'-dimethylether, isokaempferide, quercetin 3-O-arabinoside, quercetin 3-O-galactoside, catechin), stilbenes (resveratrol, piceid), and 1-stearoylglycerol were isolated from the plant. The antibacterial activities of isolated compounds were determined, and it was observed that especially naphthalenes exerted remarkable antibacterial effects against several bacterial strains.

Chrysophanol exhibits inhibitory activities against colorectal cancer by targeting decorin

“…Naturally occurring anthraquinone compounds include physcion, emodin, aloe‐emodin, rhein and chrysophanol (1,8‐Dihydroxy‐3‐methyl‐9,10‐anthraquinone). Chrysophanol has anti‐inflammatory, neuroprotective, antibacterial, cardiac protective and anti‐depressant effects. In addition, it has shown strong anti‐neoplastic effects in breast cancer, non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells through different mechanisms.…”

Chrysophanol Suppresses Hypoxia‐Induced Epithelial‐Mesenchymal Transition in Colorectal Cancer Cells

“…Naturally occurring anthraquinone compounds constitute a large family including physcion, emodin, aloe‐emodin, rhein, and chrysophanol (1,8‐dihydroxy‐3‐methyl‐9,10‐anthraquinone). A variety of pharmacological activities of chrysophanol such as anti‐inflammatory (Jeong et al, ; Wen et al, ), neuroprotective (Zhao et al, ; Zhao et al, ), antibacterial (Orban‐Gyapai et al, ), cardiac protective (Lian et al, ), and anti‐depressant (Zhang et al, ) activities have been reported. Interestingly, the anti‐neoplastic activities of chrysophanol have also been reported.…”

Celtic Provenance in Traditional Herbal Medicine of Medieval Wales and Classical Antiquity

“…The roots of docks are a rich source of anthraquinones and naphthalenes. Myddfai I recommends its use in treatment of pneumonia, which can be related to the antimicrobial properties of dock plants (Orbán-Gyapai et al, 2017). There is some certainty that the Welsh text is referring to R. conglomeratus in specific, due to the fact that species within the genus Rumex had unique Welsh names.…”